Minor League Report. Lost Sunday for all.

AAA: SWB (21-18) lost 4-3. C Ryan Lavarnway 2 hits, RBI. 3B Breyvic Valera 2-run HR. Starter Dan Camarena 3 R, in 6 IP. Game called in the 8th.

AA: Trenton (23-16) lost 7-1. LF Zach Zehner 2 of the 4 hits, solo HR. 1B Brandon Wagner the other 2 hits. Starter Albert Abreu 2 R in 5 2/3 (L) then the bullpen let things get away.  Domingo Acevedo 3 R in 2 1/3 IP (2 HR), Trevor Lane 2 R, in 2/3 IP. (4 walks)

High A: Tampa (17-25) lost 5-4 in 10 innings. 2B Oswaldo Cabrera 2 hits, RBI. C Donny Sands 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Angel Aguilar 2 hits. 3B Wendell Rijo 2 hits. LF Tyler Hill solo HR.  3 of the 5 runs given up were unearned.

Low A: Charleston (23-20) lost 8-5 in 12 innings. CF Brandon Lockridge 3 hits, RBI. C Mickey Gasper 2 RBI. 3B Ricky Surum 2 hits, RBI. SS Eduardo Torrealba 2 hits. Starter Roansy Contreras 3 R, 7 IP.

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Game 45. Yanks regain 1st place with 13-5 win.

The Yankees (28-17) stole a page from Tampa Bay’s book, employing an opener, and while that didn’t go smoothly, some plate patience, 3 HR, and a big PH double helped them to a 13-5 win over the Rays on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Yankees took two of three from Tampa Bay this weekend and moved back into first place by 1/2 a game.

Chad Green, who started, got help in the top of the first from Gary Sanchez. After a leadoff walk, Sanchez gunned down the runner trying to steal. This was huge because the next batter doubled. Green held the Rays scoreless in the top of the first.

The Yanks scored in the bottom of the first when D.J. LeMahieu singled and with one out, Luke Voit walked. With two out, Kendrys Morales singled home LaMahieu.

But in the top of the second, Chad Green’s struggles all season continued. With two out, he gave up back-to-back HR on consecutive pitches, then hit the next batter in the head, which, even if unintentional, isn’t a good look. 2-1 Rays.

Brett Gardner hit his 7th HR of the season, a 2-run shot, to put the Yanks up 3-2 in the bottom of the second.

But in the top of the third, Nestor Cortes gave up a 3-run HR to put the Rays up 5-3. To Cortes’ credit, he settled down after that.

One concern about having Green start and Cortes follow is this. Going into this game, the Yankees’ team ERA was 3.64. Take away Green, Cortes, Stephen Tarpley and Jake Barrett, and that ERA would have been 3.14. Hence the apprehension over Green and Cortes.

Aaron Hicks hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the fourth (1) that tied the game at 5.

Bottom of the fifth. Gary Sanchez triples to lead off the inning but the Yanks can’t bring him in. Aaargh.

Top of the sixth. Adam Ottavino comes in with two on, two out and walks the batter to load the bases. He gets a strikeout to get out of it.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees scored seven runs, part of it due to good plate patience and taking the walk. Gardner singled to lead off the inning and stole second. Clint Frazier, 8 for his last 51 and dropped to ninth in the lineup, walked. LeMahieu popped up a bunt attempt for out #1. Aaron Hicks walked to load the bases. Luke Voit walked to force in the go-ahead run. 6-5 Yanks. With Gary Sanchez up, a pitch got away, but Frazier was thrown out at home for out #2, the other runners moving up. Sanchez was then intentionally walked to set up the force at any base for out #3, which didn’t come for a while. Kendrys Morales walked to force in another run. 7-5, Yankees. Gleyber Torres reached on an infield single, upheld by replay, 8-5 Yankees. Thairo Estrada PH for Gio Urshela, who got banged up earlier, and Estrada broke the game wide open with a bases-clearing double. 11-5. Gardner then doubled to make it 12-5 before Frazier struck out for the final out.

In the seventh, LeMahieu homered (3) for the final tally of 13-5.

Chance Adams closed things out with three scoreless innings of relief for his first MLB save.

LeMahieu 2 hits, solo HR (.312)
Hicks 2-run HR (1)
Sanchez 2 hits.
Morales 2 RBI
Torres 2 hits, RBI
Estrada 3 RBI
Gardner 3 hits, 3 RBI, 2-run HR
Frazier, slumping. 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk. 8 for last 51.

Green 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up 2 HR. 1 HBP. 13.50
Cortes  4 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 9.00
Ottavino (W, 2-1, 1.61) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Adams (S, 1) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K.  0.00

The Yanks now have an opportunity to open that lead a little wider. They now play two of the worst teams in the league, the Orioles followed by KC.

Time to make a little hay.

 

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (21-17) won 4-3. 1B/3B Mike Ford 2 hits. LF/ RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, RBI. 3B Cliff Pennington 2 hits, solo HR. Starter Brody Koerner 6 IP, 3 R. Stephen Tarpley 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win.

AA: Trenton (23-15) lost 3-1.  DH Chris Gittens 2 hits. CF Rashad Crawford 2 hits. Starter and Losing Pitcher Rony Garcia 6 IP, 3 R.

High A: Tampa (17-24) lost 7-6 in 11 innings. SS Diego Castillo 3 hits. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, Solo HR. 3B Angel Aguilar 2 hits, 2 RBI. RF Tyler Hill 3 hits, RBI. Janson Junk 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, 6 K.

Low A: Charleston (23-19) lost 6-4 in 11 innings. CF Brandon Lockridge 2 hits, 2 RBI. LF Cannan Smith 3 hits. (.339). 2B Kyle Gray 2 hits. 3b/1B Max Burt 2 hits, RBI. Pedro Espinola 3 scoreless IP of relief, 4 K.

Game 44. Yanks fall back to 2nd after 2-1, 11 inning loss.

For the second week in a row, Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Blake Snell of the Rays went at it mano-a-mano in a pitcher’s duel. Although Tanaka pitched six scoreless innings, the Yanks (27-17) lost in 11 innings, 2-1.

The Yanks scored their only run of the game in the third inning. With one out, Brett Gardner and D.J. LeMahieu singled and Luke Voit walked. After Aaron Hicks struck out, Snell threw a WP, allowing a run to score. Gary Sanchez struck out to end the inning.

It was an awful day for Sanchez, who struck out each of the first four times he came to bat, and GIDP to end the game in his last at bat.

In the top the sixth, with a man on second and two out, a liner up the middle struck Tanaka’s shin and ricocheted to Luke Voit at first. Voit stepped on the bag for the third out. The richochet saved what at that time was the tying run. Although X-rays were negative, Tanaka is still questionable for his next start with a contusion.

In the bottom of the sixth, with one out, Aaron Hicks reached second on an error. With two out, Gleyber Torres singled, but Hicks (who ran through a stop sign) was gunned down at the plate.

In the top of the seventh, Tommy Kahnle gave up HR to the first batter he faced, and that tied the game at 1.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gio Urshela almost won another game by himself. After fouling off a ton of pitches and working a LONG at bat, he drilled one to RCF that was caught just in front of the wall.

In the top of the eleventh, Luis Cessa gave up a HR, and that was the ballgame. 2-1 Rays.

Because of the DH the other day, Chad Green will be the Yanks’ “opener” tomorrow. It will be a bullpen game, and it will be interesting how Aaron Boone manages it.

Hicks 2 hits.
Sanchez 0 for 5. Struck out first 4 times up, Game ending DP last time.
Urshela 2 hits.
Clint Frazier slumping. 8 for his last 48.

It looks like we may be getting Didi Gregorius and Giancarlo Stanton back in about 2-3 weeks.

There will then be interesting decisions to be made then. Who goes? Probably Estrada for Didi, but who for Stanton? Morales? Maybin?

Tanaka 6 IP,  0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 6 K.  3.09
Kahnle (BS, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.50 Gave up 1 HR.
Britton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  2.66
Chapman 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.  2.04
Holder 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.  4.09
Cessa (L, 0-1, 3.60) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.  Gave up 1 HR.

 

 

 

Minor League Report. Relievers waste good starting pitching efforts at High and Low A.

AAA: SWB (20-17) split a DH.

Game 1 (Reg. scheduled game): won 10-5. DH Mike Ford 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. SS Breyvic Valera 2 hits, RBI. CF Mike Tauchman 2 hits, RBI. 2B Tyler Wade 2 hits. 3B Brad Miller 2-run HR, 3 RBI. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, 2 RBI. Adonis Rosa (W, 1-0, 5.11 at AAA) 6 2/3 IP, 5 R, 3 ER (Wade made 2 errors), 10 H, 2 W, 6 K.

Game 2: (makeup of 5/12, which was supposed to be at SWB but had to be made up in Toledo) lost 5-0, getting just 2 hits.

AA: Trenton (23-14) won 6-2. 2B Hoy Jun Park 3 hits, 4 RBI. (.333). DH Gosuke Katoh 2 hits. LF Ben Ruta 2 hits, 2 RBI (.357). SS Kyle Holder 2 hits. Matt Wivinis with the “hold”, 3 scoreless IP of relief, 4 K. Brooks Kriske 2 scoreless for the save.

High A: Tampa (17-23) lost 8-6. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits, RBI. SS Oswaldo Cabrera 2 RBI. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, RBI. C Donny Sands 2 hits. DH Steven Sensley solo HR. RF Omar Carrizales 2 hits. 2B Wendell Rijo 2 hits, RBI.

Nice job by starter Glenn Otto, 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 W, 7 K, but reliever Greg Weissert gave up 5 runs, 3 earned, in 1 1/3 IP (2 HR).

Low A:   Charleston (23-18) lost 8-3 in 10 innings. LF Canaan Smith 3 hits, RBI (.330). DH Josh Breaux 2 hits, RBI (.304). 3B Ricky Surum 2 hits. Starter Alexander Vizcaino 7 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 0 W, 10 K, but reliever Bryan Blanton gave up 5 R, 4 ER, in 2 IP for the loss.  

Game 43. Yanks shock Rays with 3 in 9th to win 4-3. Take over first place.

The Yankees (27-16) scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to shock Tampa Bay 4-3 and take over first place by 1/2 a game over the Rays.

And guess who the hero was again? Yup, Gio Urshela.

Kendrys Morales started the game’s scoring by hitting his second HR of the season—and first as a Yankee—in the second inning. 1-0 Yanks.

CC Sabathia pitched great, his only mistake coming when he served up a gopher ball in the fourth that tied the game at 1.

In the eighth, Chad Green gave up a double, and was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but a double, and an infield single with a throwing error on the play by Gleyber Torres gave the Rays two runs. There was a rain delay in the bottom of the eighth.

But going into the bottom of the ninth, the Yanks were down 3-1. Luke Voit led off the inning with a HR (11). Gary Sanchez singled and Thairo Estrada ran for him. Morales struck out but Torres worked a great at bat and on the tenth pitch, doubled Estrada to third. Clint Frazier was intentionally walked. Cameron Maybin PH for Brett Gardner, and Rays’ pitcher Jose Alvarado threw a WP that tied the game. Maybin grounded into a fielder’s choice, Torres out at home. That made it two outs, runners at first and third. Maybin stole second to take away the force. Urshela then singled to win the game.

Voit 3 hits, solo HR (11).
Morales solo HR, his first as a Yankee, in his second Yankees’ game.
Urshela 3 hits, GW RBI, .347

Sabathia 6 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 2 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR.  2.97
Ottavino 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.  1.64
Kahnle 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.  1.06
Green 1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K.  13.97
Holder (W, 3-1, 4.29) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.

 

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (19-16) won 7-4. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits. C Kyle Higashioka solo HR. LF Brad Miller solo HR. SS Cliff Pennington 3-run HR. CF Billy Burns 3 hits, RBI. Drew Hutchison (W, 3-2, 5.60) 6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 9 K.

AA: Trenton (22-14) won 5-4. 1B Chris Gittens (.317-8-28) Solo HR. LF Zach Zehner 3-run HR. SS Kyle Holder 2 hits.  Will Carter 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.

High A: Tampa (17-22) lost 5-0, getting just three hits.

Low A: Charleston (23-17) won 5-0. DH Josh Breaux 2 hits, 2 RBI. C Mickey Gasper (.312) 3 hits. LF Frederick Cuevas 2 hits. 3B Max Burt 2-run HR.

Luis Gil (W, 2-2, 0.82) 6 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 W, 4 K.
Jhony Brito 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K.  1.08